India Ferrah is the stage name of Shane Richardson, a professional drag queen and performer from Dayton, Ohio.
India competed on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3, where she was the fourth eliminated, placing 10th in the competition overall.
On May 8, 2020, it was announced that she would be competing in All Stars 5. She was the fifth eliminated, placing 6th overall.
Drag Name Origin
She started with Jenna Michaels, but thought it did not fit her at all. There is also a queen with a name starting with Jenna and another one ending with Michaels in Roanoke, Virginia (where she is originally from). She then got a comedy name of Shanita Dickiner. She did not want to be a comedy queen, but more diva and high glam. Her first drag mother Montana St. Clair, who gave her the name India Ferrah. Her new drag mother is Kristina Kelly.
RuPaul's Drag Race
| Season Competed | Season 3 | All Stars 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Ranking: | 10th Place | 6th Place |
| Maxi Challenges Won: | 0 | 1 (Ep. 1) |
| Mini Challenges Won: | 0 | 0 |
| Times as Team Captain: | 0 | 1 (Ep. 2) |
| Times in Bottom: | 2 (Eps. 4, 5) | 4 (Eps. 2, 3, 4, 5) |
| Episode Eliminated | Episode 5 | Episode 5 |
Season 3
India entered Season 3 wearing a similar outfit as Phoenix, which they and the other queens pointed out. She placed safe in the Christmas sewing challenge. In Episode 2, she was praised for her space look but criticized for her lack of personality. She was safe overall.
In Episode 3, she was in the bottom two for not having a stand out personality in the exercise challenge, and she was infamously picked up by Mimi Imfurst in the "Don't Leave Me This Way" lip-sync, causing India to be saved by default. She was in the bottom two again in Episode 4, and lost the lip-sync against Stacy Layne Matthews. In Untucked, Manila Luzon made fun of her for complaining about being judged for wearing her breastplate too much, and saying she paid $600 for them.
Season 9
India performed a lip-sync to RuPaul's "Category Is..." at the season 9 grand finale, which has over 500K views on YouTube.[1] A bonus clip skit has RuPaul forcing India out of her seat by being picked up by Mimi again, and making way for Victoria Parker.[2]
All Stars 5
India was announced to be one of ten returning queens for the fifth season of All Stars. In the first episode, she addressed some off-screen drama between her and fellow All Star competitor Derrick Barry.
India won the the variety show in the first episode with her lip-sync performance to a song titled "Drag is Not a Contact Sport" referencing her lip-sync against Mimi Imfurst. As a result of her win, she lip-synced against the season's first "Lip-sync Assassin" Yvie Oddly, but ultimately lost the battle. On Episode 2, she was a team captain along with Shea Couleé and Blair St. Clair. India picked Alexis and Jujubee for her team. The challenge was to record and perform an original pop number to "I'm in Love!". India was praised for her skin runway look having a positive message, but criticized for having a hard-to-follow verse and cluttered-together lyrics. India placed in the bottom three along with Ongina and Mariah Balenciaga, but was saved from elimination. Shea Couleé won the challenge while Ongina was sent packing. However, she continued to be in the bottom two continuously throughout her time on the season. In episode 3 she was criticized for not standing out compared to Jujubee and Alexis Mateo, who are both big personalities next to her. She was in the bottom with Mariah and Shea, and Mariah was sent home. In episode 4, she again placed in the bottom, this time with Mayhem Miller, her scene partner in SheMZ. She was criticized for not standing out and playing into her character too slowly but was ultimately saved by Miz Cracker, the top all star that week, and the group.
The next week, she chose to do Jeffree Star during the Snatch Game of Love. She was criticized for not playing Jeffree like Jeffree and not looking like Jeffree. However, this was the first week of the season in which all of the queens were in the bottom if they were not the top. India addresses drama from episode 3, where she claims that Alexis and Mayhem tried to campaign to send Shea home, to which Alexis denied the allegations and the rest of the queens remained confused for the next two episodes. However, this was not enough to change Shea's mind on who to keep and India was eliminated in 6th place.
Entrance Quote
Season 3
"Girl.....prison honey." (to Phoenix)
All Stars 5
"India 2.0 here! Remodeled, remastered and ready for action!"
Memorable Quotes
Season 3
- "Get her off of me!" (During her lipsync against Mimi Imfurst)
- "I paid $600 for this, I'm gonna wear this motherfucker!" (About her breastplate in Untucked!)
- "There is a hell no storm...okay!"
- "I like your hair." (To Phoenix)
All Stars 5
- "Sadly, one of the only things I'm known for is being picked up by Mimi Imfurst."
- "Surprise bitches, it's meeeee!"
- "Ah-oww!"
- "Derrick Barry. You give us Britney like it's always 2008. Now, Ru, can we go ahead and open the door and #FreeBritney?" (in the reading mini-challenge)
- "And they did."
- "It was not to her!" (responding to Derrick Barry on when India called Nebraska a 'pig in a wig')
- "I just wanna spray it, wipe it away, get it out of here." (about Derrick Barry's lipstick message)
- "Justin Timberlake! He’s bringing sexy back, I follow in his tracks, I sent that Britney back, cause I felt very attacked! I’ll give him all my love, my hugs, my kisses, he’s my drug." (verse in I’m in Love)
- ”Comedy. Me. Yeah. Oof” (Confessional from her conversation with Ru in the Werk Room“
- "#PowerBottom"
- ''It's the finale, finale, ooh! I just got these done.'' (while jiggling her tits)
Trivia
- India cites drag legends like Leigh Bowery as inspirations to her drag.
- She has been performing in drag since she was around 12.
- India has a large collection of "Funko POPs" figures.
- India is the first contestant to literally be picked up by another contestant (Mimi Imfurst)during a lip-sync performance.
- She shares a birthday with Yara Sofia, Kenya Michaels, and Soju, which is May 8.
- India was revealed as a contestant on All Stars 5 on her birthday.
- In All Stars 5, India became the first queen in herstory to lip-sync against a queen that is not a fellow contestant.
- India arguably now holds the worst track record out of any queen in Drag Race herstory, having appeared in the bottom in every episode she appeared in (with the exception of Episode 1 in which she won) before being eliminated.
- India is the third queen to win the first main challenge in an All Stars season without winning a maxi challenge in their first season (the first being Aja and the second being Monique Heart).
- India was a contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race: Live in Las Vegas. Other contestants include Aquaria, Coco Montrese, and Yvie Oddly.
- India is the fourth queen to win the first challenge and be in the bottom two/three for the second challenge on an All Stars season (the first being Tatianna and Roxxxy Andrews in All Stars 2, second being Monique Heart in All Stars 4).
- In both of her seasons she was eliminated in episode 5.
- India is the sixth queen to be in the bottom at least four times in a single series. Coco Montrese was in the bottom four times in Season 5, Roxxxy Andrews was in the bottom five times in All Stars 2, Kennedy Davenport was in the bottom four times in All Stars 3, Ra'Jah O'Hara was in the bottom four times in Season 11, and Heidi N Closet was in the bottom four times in Season 12.
- India is the second queen to be 4 times in the bottom in a row, following Roxxxy Andrews in All Stars 2.
- Since there is not comeback episode in All Stars 5, India is the highest placing queen to be eliminated in the Snatch Game (not counting Tatianna in All Stars 2 and Kenya Michaels in Season 4, they both placed 9th before coming back to the competition).
- India was the only main challenge winner in her season to not survive until the finale.
- India is the fifth queen to win a main challenge in All Stars after having not won one in her original season, after Shannel, Aja, Monique Heart and Monet X Change. She was followed by fellow All Stars 5 contestant Jujubee.
- Of the six, she is the only one who never placed HIGH at least once in her original season.
Gallery
Season 3 Looks
All Stars 5 Looks
Videos
Lip Syncs
Other
Social Media
References
| Winner | Raja |
|---|---|
| Runners-Up | 2nd: Manila Luzon • 3rd: Alexis Mateo |
| Other Contestants | 4th: Yara Sofia (Miss Congeniality) • 5th: Carmen Carrera • 6th: Shangela • 7th: Delta Work • 8th: Stacy Layne Matthews • 9th: Mariah • 10th: India Ferrah • 11th: Mimi Imfurst • 12th: Phoenix • 13th: Venus D-Lite |
| Judges | RuPaul • Santino Rice • Michelle Visage • Billy B |
| Pit Crew | Jason Carter • Shawn Morales |
| Winner | Shea Couleé |
|---|---|
| Runners-Up | 2nd & 3rd: Jujubee & Miz Cracker |
| Other Contestants | 4th: Blair St. Clair • 5th: Alexis Mateo • 6th: India Ferrah • 7th: Mayhem Miller • 8th: Mariah Paris Balenciaga • 9th: Ongina • 10th: Derrick Barry |
| Lip Sync Assassins | Yvie Oddly • Alyssa Edwards • Monét X Change • Morgan McMichaels • Vanessa Vanjie Mateo • Roxxxy Andrews • Kennedy Davenport |
| Judges | RuPaul • Michelle Visage • Carson Kressley • Ross Mathews |
| Pit Crew | Jason Carter • Bruno Carvalho • Bryce Eilenberg |